Niente paura

By telling the story of an Italian musician and his audience, we are telling the story of the last thirty years of our country. But can songs portray a society? And can the artistic career of a musician – in our case Luciano Ligabue – tell the story of the way we were and the way we are now? Popular music speaks to us, and often depicts us better than many essays or sociological studies. It comes from an emotion, from a visceral rhythm. A song can simply stay linked to a particular moment in our lives; it can denote the happiness, bitterness or nostalgia of a memory. It can even “celebrate” a special event, becoming a “rite”, in the best and most secular meaning of the word. Songs and emotion. Songs that are the soundtrack to your personal life but also your social and political life. Songs and memory. Personal memories and collective memories, meaning both the shared memories of a country and the memories of lots of people together. Why Luciano Ligabue? Because he is a popular Italian musician; because when he sings Non è tempo per noi during his concerts, the articles of the Italian Constitution are projected onto the big screens; because when he sings Buonanotte all’Italia the faces of the people who have done something for Italy are shown behind him; because at the end of his concerts he addresses his audience saying: “I would like to wish goodnight / to everyone who lives in this country / but who are here to stay, / because this country belongs to those who live here / and not those who govern it”.